The Energon Pub

I want to know!! I want to hear your story, did you write a letter to Hasbro? Did they respond? Botcon conversations, do they treat you like you don't matter? Conventions and panels, do they think we will buy whatever they push on us? Is Takara Tomy a better overall fanbase listener? I want to know?? Does Hasbro pay more attention to their Star Wars and Gi Joe franchise fanbases? Please no Flaming, this is simply meant to hear fan feedback on Hasbro the company, and not a battle of whits and words.

I had one experience I'll share when I was at an SDCC convention, the Hasbro Rep. I was TRYING to talking to, Blew me off! I asked him like 4 really good fan type questions about Transformers, which is where he was in front of a booth! He blew me off seriously and acted as if I was bothering him!

Bothering him, are you fricken serious??? I'm the consumer Damnit!! I pay your freakin salary!! You should be bothering me! What, cause some love sick fanboys come up to you and beg you for certain toys to be made, or you get an autograph request, your suddenly a Toy Manufacturing Rock star or something?? So that means you can act like a freakin snooty Hollywood celeb?

Hell, I'm surprised you didn't ask me to fetch you a latte or something, Mr. Big Shot super Star!!

He acted as if he was only there to promote their new products, and that was it! He gave me the impression that this was just a job for him, smile answer fans to the best of his ability, but in reality, this was just another chore and part of his job to promoite the latest product. He could care less what I felt and desired as a fan, all he was concerned about was making his quota, getting his 100K a year, and trips to Maui or Hawaii on his bonuses after Christmas! What a Jerk!!

If you don't have someone who enjoys the Genre, Hasbro, then don't send them out to a convention to peddle your crap!!

I'm still pissed about that! I have no faith in Hasbro toys! I love the Transformers, and respect where they came from. The company has probably changed alot over the years, and gotten worse then it used to be towards their fans. Takara Tomy seems to be quite nice in their relationship with fans over seas, just look at how well they produce their transformers!

It's not Hasbro ignoring the fanbase, it's just one rep ignoring some fan's questions. Also, they don't need to listen or address each and every request. We've gotten shitloads of awesome toys from Hasbro, I don't think we're in a position where we can complain.

megatroptimus wrote:It's not Hasbro ignoring the fanbase, it's just one rep ignoring some fan's questions. Also, they don't need to listen or address each and every request. We've gotten shitloads of awesome toys from Hasbro, I don't think we're in a position where we can complain.

we are the customers right??

I have lots of faith.

I once had a constructicon that came with a missing gun. I sent it away to Hasbro with a letter, 2 weeks later i received a new toy, plus 3 other constructicons.

Good stuff.

Of course, my experience doesn't mean that Hasbro doesn't ignore the fan base, and your experience certainly means nothing aswell, other then a possible disgruntled employee. Or perhaps you really were annoying him.

Hasbro is excellent.

Maximal Primal wrote:we are the customers right??

So are millions of children. As far as TFs go, take a wild guess as to who is in the majority.

Being customers doesn't mean we have to demand a ton of stuff from Hasbro either. Especially when such demands from the fandom tend to be unrealistic or nonsensical.

As for your incident, are you sure you were even talking to a Hasbro rep? And not a HasbroToyShop rep? The latter has good reason to not respond, he's got no part in the creative process.

megatroptimus wrote:It's not Hasbro ignoring the fanbase, it's just one rep ignoring some fan's questions. Also, they don't need to listen or address each and every request. We've gotten shitloads of awesome toys from Hasbro, I don't think we're in a position where we can complain.

Yeah, I agree. Over the years we have gotten some excellent product out of Hasbro, and we've also gotten some junk. But they really don't need to listen to us or our suggestions or wants. I don't really understand why undies get all knotted up about the lack of a G1 Arcee figure, but apparently Hasbro don't really feel the need to produce one either. And in all reality, what difference has it made? How many people have stopped buying Transformers due to the lack of a G1 Arcee figure? I know that people want certain figures to be reissued from G1, but all I really wanted reissued was Mindwipe becuase I always wanted/never got that figure. No reissue Mindwipe, but I still bought the G1 reissues becuase they were cool. They didn't see the need to reissue Mindwipe just becuase I wanted one, and they didn't cause me to stop buying their toys as a result. Look how long people have been bitching to get the Seacons reissued, and now they're apparently in the pipeline but as far as I know are not planned for release yet. They don't have to listen but it's cool when they do. As for the Hasbro rep, that's not very cool of him. If you had comments or whatnot, they shouldn't have blown you off.

Briggs wrote:I have lots of faith.

I once had a constructicon that came with a missing gun. I sent it away to Hasbro with a letter, 2 weeks later i received a new toy, plus 3 other constructicons.

Good stuff.

Of course, my experience doesn't mean that Hasbro doesn't ignore the fan base, and your experience certainly means nothing aswell, other then a possible disgruntled employee. Or perhaps you really were annoying him.

Hasbro is excellent.

your experience is what I'm talking about. As a "Customer" Hasbro takes care of you, but once you cross that line into "Fan" your voice is pretty much toned out.

Maybe it's our fault, instead of bitching about changes on some forum, hoping that Hasbro will stop by for a chat, we should be more organized and uniform in our requests. If you want something done, do a Damn Petition!! If you want comic Paks like Skywarp-2 Suggested then submit a formal request into Hasbro! If you want Arcee in the next movie, like the toy, then sign the damn petition!! Let's stop being so indecisive and get what we want for once!

I can't help but feel like a step child to Hasbro, because I call myself "Fan" while those parents or "Customers" who complain or want changes to a product are considered the rightful children. They eat off the nice table on the good china, we get a small TV tray and Paper plates and plastic silverware!

On most things, yes they pretty much ignore us.

They seem to think they know what we want to buy better than we do.

Maximal Primal wrote:

Briggs wrote:I have lots of faith.

I once had a constructicon that came with a missing gun. I sent it away to Hasbro with a letter, 2 weeks later i received a new toy, plus 3 other constructicons.

Good stuff.

Of course, my experience doesn't mean that Hasbro doesn't ignore the fan base, and your experience certainly means nothing aswell, other then a possible disgruntled employee. Or perhaps you really were annoying him.

Hasbro is excellent.

your experience is what I'm talking about. As a "Customer" Hasbro takes care of you, but once you cross that line into "Fan" your voice is pretty much toned out.

Maybe it's our fault, instead of bitching about changes on some forum, hoping that Hasbro will stop by for a chat, we should be more organized and uniform in our requests. If you want something done, do a Damn Petition!! If you want comic Paks like Skywarp-2 Suggested then submit a formal request into Hasbro! If you want Arcee in the next movie, like the toy, then sign the damn petition!! Let's stop being so indecisive and get what we want for once!

I can't help but feel like a step child to Hasbro, because I call myself "Fan" while those parents or "Customers" who complain or want changes to a product are considered the rightful children. They eat off the nice table on the good china, we get a small TV tray and Paper plates and plastic silverware!

well, I think your overly dramatizing the situation from Hasbro, Yes that rep was a jerk, but your still a fan of transformers, albeit frustrated...

Just relax, it may take some time, but once in awhile some executive will get an epiphany and do something that we fans like..rare as those times are...

The Master Blaster wrote:On most things, yes they pretty much ignore us.

They seem to think they know what we want to buy better than we do.

Exactly my point, and yeah, it seems like they could produce crap, the fandom will buy it for fear that if it fails it will lead to them cancelling the entire toy series. Fools!

Fear is what drives us to keep buying, fear to speak up, fear to want more out of them, fear to ask for better quality plastics and paint applications, fear of them not releasing anymore, or what we really want, so we buy continually, but to never really reach our goals.

"Fear, Fear will keep the local Fandom's in line!" Fear of this Battle station. Errr, I mean series Cancellation."

High exec Aaron Archer from Hasbro does go to Botcon every year ,and listens to other fans opinions and requests there. Appears on interviews as well.

Dude, you seriously come off as a kinda of guy saying "Transformers fans unite against the tyranny of Hasbro!" when I don't think it's really necessary. I'm mostly pleased with what is being produced and haven't had any real issues, except maybe Classics being canceled before I could my Bumblebee.

The Master Blaster wrote:On most things, yes they pretty much ignore us.

They seem to think they know what we want to buy better than we do.

And us Brits should know...

I actually phoned Hasbro UK once looking for some Energon toys for Half-Pint, the lady on the phone not only struggled to find a line called "Ener-gone" (I kid you not), but she proceed to tell me that the two i was lokking for (the last two bits of a gestalt), weren't scheduled for release in the UK.

Found them in Tesco's two weeks later

Wodicus wrote:Dude, you seriously come off as a kinda of guy saying "Transformers fans unite against the tyranny of Hasbro!" when I don't think it's really necessary. I'm mostly pleased with what is being produced and haven't had any real issues, except maybe Classics being canceled before I could my Bumblebee.

Man..........I was totally supporting Hasbro there, until you brought up the classics....the Botcon issues....arrghhh.. the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I think about it!!! Please Don't get me started....

If youwant to know just how much Hasbro cares for its fans cheak out my new thread, it's caled ror!

Money talks, **** walks. Thus far, petitions amount to nearly zero difference. Not even that supposed victory over the TF movie score - it was only noticed after the fact.

It's all about who you talk to, how do you do it, and when. Even though you never clarified who that rep was, it was probably not a person in a position to help/understand you. And even Hasbro on occasion wants to do something that, ultimately, they can't. Those sorts of things are more likely to change given the amount of money made thanks to the movie, but beforehand we could only get so much.

And Hasbro guys do in fact pay attention to forums and note fan opinion. When it comes to stuff like reissues, for example, there's only so much they can do, but it's still not hopeless.

Hasbro UK is a different, and utterly ****, matter.

Wodicus wrote:Dude, you seriously come off as a kinda of guy saying "Transformers fans unite against the tyranny of Hasbro!" when I don't think it's really necessary. I'm mostly pleased with what is being produced and haven't had any real issues, except maybe Classics being canceled before I could my Bumblebee.

No, what I'm saying is for the Transformers fandom to stop being so chicken **** and start speaking up for what we want from HASBRO!! You think the Star Wars fandoms or the Gi Joe fandoms sit on their duff, scared to ask Hasbro for stuff? Hell no! I've been to a Star Wars convention, and do they ever let Hasbro have it!! They are a fiesty bunch! I suppose the 45 to 50 year olds in the convention centers hold more clout then us newbies since out Franschise was only launched in the mid 80s. Maybe that's why we get tuned out most of the time?

Chosen wrote:Hasbro UK is a different, and utterly ****, matter.

Quoted for both truth and comedy value!

Pretender Skywarp wrote:

Chosen wrote:Hasbro UK is a different, and utterly ****, matter.

Quoted for both truth and comedy value!

I have heard the same complaint myself...numerous times in fact...

skywarp-2 wrote:

Pretender Skywarp wrote:

Chosen wrote:Hasbro UK is a different, and utterly ****, matter.

Quoted for both truth and comedy value!

I have heard the same complaint myself...numerous times in fact...

Oh don't we just love Hasbro?

Maximal Primal wrote:

Wodicus wrote:Dude, you seriously come off as a kinda of guy saying "Transformers fans unite against the tyranny of Hasbro!" when I don't think it's really necessary. I'm mostly pleased with what is being produced and haven't had any real issues, except maybe Classics being canceled before I could my Bumblebee.

No, what I'm saying is for the Transformers fandom to stop being so chicken **** and start speaking up for what we want from HASBRO!! You think the Star Wars fandoms or the Gi Joe fandoms sit on their duff, scared to ask Hasbro for stuff? Hell no! I've been to a Star Wars convention, and do they ever let Hasbro have it!! They are a fiesty bunch! I suppose the 45 to 50 year olds in the convention centers hold more clout then us newbies since out Franschise was only launched in the mid 80s. Maybe that's why we get tuned out most of the time?

Since you're so passionate about this, I have to ask what exactly do you want that we're not currently getting from Hasbro? I mean, aside from the current supply issues and some quality issues with movie toys, I can't really think of anything that is glaringly wrong with Transformers. Sure, there are quite a few dream toys I'd like to see them make, or some suggestions such as Skywarp-2's comic pack ideas, or even bring back my damn Alternators but overall they've done a great job.

Also, I do agree with your first post that the Hasbro rep was a bit rude when he ignored you. Whether you were a fanboy or million dollar vendor, he was representing Hasbro to consumers and he did a poopy job. No matter what the situation you always act professionally and try to provide customer service.

Except for the Titanium line being cancelled (I can see why though), I can't find anything to complain about Hasbro. They're doing a stellar job at bringing us amazing Transformers year after year.

Dead Metal wrote:

skywarp-2 wrote:

Pretender Skywarp wrote:

Chosen wrote:Hasbro UK is a different, and utterly ****, matter.

Quoted for both truth and comedy value!

I have heard the same complaint myself...numerous times in fact...

Oh don't we just love Hasbro?

YES WE DO!!!!!!!



Hey wait, that's not right...

I think Hasbro are accomodating fans pretty well. Hell, we're getting whole lines (Alternators, Classics) that clearly aren't aimed at children watching the cartoons. Seems to me that when people complain about "the fans" being ignored, they really mean that they are being ignored. I'm sure it would be great if Hasbro could release every single thing every single fan wanted. But I'm not sure the 80s TV show-based gestalt that I'd love would sell well enough to justify the costs.

By the way, can anyone name a petition about anything that actually achieved it's objective? My experience is petitions achieve nothing, because you can get people to put their name on a petition for anything. If you doubt that, consider that people have signed petitions calling for a ban on dihydrogen monoxide.

lanzajr26 wrote:

Maximal Primal wrote:

Wodicus wrote:Dude, you seriously come off as a kinda of guy saying "Transformers fans unite against the tyranny of Hasbro!" when I don't think it's really necessary. I'm mostly pleased with what is being produced and haven't had any real issues, except maybe Classics being canceled before I could my Bumblebee.

No, what I'm saying is for the Transformers fandom to stop being so chicken **** and start speaking up for what we want from HASBRO!! You think the Star Wars fandoms or the Gi Joe fandoms sit on their duff, scared to ask Hasbro for stuff? Hell no! I've been to a Star Wars convention, and do they ever let Hasbro have it!! They are a fiesty bunch! I suppose the 45 to 50 year olds in the convention centers hold more clout then us newbies since out Franschise was only launched in the mid 80s. Maybe that's why we get tuned out most of the time?

Since you're so passionate about this, I have to ask what exactly do you want that we're not currently getting from Hasbro? I mean, aside from the current supply issues and some quality issues with movie toys, I can't really think of anything that is glaringly wrong with Transformers. Sure, there are quite a few dream toys I'd like to see them make, or some suggestions such as Skywarp-2's comic pack ideas, or even bring back my damn Alternators but overall they've done a great job.

Also, I do agree with your first post that the Hasbro rep was a bit rude when he ignored you. Whether you were a fanboy or million dollar vendor, he was representing Hasbro to consumers and he did a poopy job. No matter what the situation you always act professionally and try to provide customer service.

thanks for the understanding.. that rep was a main person on the Hasbro Panel. Though I forgot their name, and even if I knew it, judging by his watch and clothes, I'd say his attorney could wrap my ass in a liable and slander suit faster then I could sneeze. All things considered, I do like Hasbro, it's not their fault if they just do somethings that are uncomprehensible. what do I want form hasbro? I'm not sure, really I'm not mad cause I want them to produce a particular figure or anything. I just want the ideas that could possibly work, be acknowledged and possibly created or seriously debated, with a littl efan feedback.

good question lanzajr26, that is the first ime anyone asked what I want from Hasbro. you'd make a better rep then that other guy. I do have some suggestion for Hasbro.

1. release a super metal finish Leader Class Megatron (mostly silver with gold, and gun metal in the areas you normally want to leave black and Optimus Prime with metallics in colors and silver.

2. release a leader Starscream, Blackout, and Bonecrusher

3. release a voyager Bumblebee and barricade

4. release a realistic and fully posable frenzy, who turns into a slightly miniature boombox, size would be that of a leaderclass or bigger.

how's that?